Beethoven's only song cycle, An die Ferne Geliebte, was the starting point for so much of what followed in 19th-century lieder that its connections could inspire countless programming ideas. But the recital András Schiff devised with baritone Christian Gerhaher concentrated on the work's profound influence on Schumann. They began with the work itself, followed by Schumann's C major Fantasy, which quotes from the song cycle in its outer movements, and then moved on to Schumann's own songs, prefacing Dichterliebe with four of his settings of lyrics from Goethe's Wilhelm Meister.

The scheme was perfectly balanced. Schiff accompanies with great perception, and his handling of some of the postludes in Dichterliebe was a treat. Gerhaher, meanwhile, is a wonderfully intelligent artist who uses all the shades in his voice to extract the maximum from every song. Admittedly, one or two of his favourite devices are close to becoming mannerisms: he tends to sidle into songs, as if the vocal line was beginning on a weak beat, which can be disconcerting, and his habit of bleaching all the tone from the voice - devastatingly effective when used sparingly - needs to be rationed. But there were few histrionics. Even the moments of vocal power were strictly reserved, for the last song of An die Ferne Geliebte, and the end of a devastating account of Ich Grolle Nicht in Dichterliebe.

Schiff's performance of the Fantasy was a bit brusque, but it included one fascinating variant. He had dug out Schumann's original ending to the work, in which the Ferne Geliebte quote that ends the first movement comes back again, subtly altered to make the cadence even more heartwrenching. It is a wonderfully poetic, and very Beethoven-like, idea; why Schumann had second thoughts about it remains a mystery.